Posted on 6/4/2018
The distance a patient can walk in 6-minutes before a heart operation may be a clue to whether that patient will develop problems with memory, concentration, and attention after the procedure, according to a study published online in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Broadly speaking, a decline in cognitive performance after surgery is known as postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). With POCD, a patient's mental aptitude is weaker after surgery, resulting not only in a greater risk of complications, but also a lesser quality of life. Cognitive deterioration is increasingly recognized as a common occurrence after major surgery, e...